Philo vs Wurl

Philo in the News - Philo Press

The page lists recent press mentions, including Page Six's Virtual Reali-Tea Awards streaming exclusively on Philo, and other coverage from The Hollywood Reporter, Parade, and more.

USPI Adds Popularity Score; Owning Content Wins

State of Streaming updated its Unified Streaming Power Index (USPI) in August by adding a new Popularity Score vector, developed with Reelgood, that ranks streaming services by consumer interest across their full catalogs. The Popularity Score averages how often a service's titles appear in the national Top 100 each day over a month, creating a forward-looking index aimed at projecting where audience attention is headed. The USPI separates services into 'owners' (catalog-first platforms like Netflix, Prime Video, HBO Max) and 'renters' (wrappers/resellers like Philo, Fubo, Roku Premium) to signal stability risks tied to content ownership. The August edition argues that services reselling third-party content can post strong short-term numbers but are vulnerable to carriage changes, while owners show more durable demand signals.

• The Unified Streaming Power Index (USPI) added a new Popularity Score metric for August.
• The Popularity Score was built in partnership with Reelgood and averages daily Top 100 presence per title over a month.
• Philo and Fubo scored highly in August despite not owning the content driving demand.

Philo vs Frndly TV: Best Budget Live TV 2026

This Cord Cutters News article (by Jess Barnes, published August 22, 2026) compares two budget live TV streaming services: Philo and Frndly TV. It summarizes available plans and pricing for each service (Philo: Free tier, Essential $25/month, Bundle+ $33/month with add-on services; Frndly: Basic $8.99, Classic $10.99, Premium $12.99), channel counts and examples, DVR and streaming quality differences, and device compatibility. The piece lists channel lineups side-by-side and notes both services support major devices including iOS, Android, Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, and Chromecast. The article includes affiliate disclosures and links.

• Philo offers a Free streaming lineup, an Essential plan at $25/month, and a Bundle+ plan at $33/month.
• Philo’s Essential plan includes 70+ live TV channels, 150+ free streaming channels, 80,000+ movies and shows on demand, and unlimited DVR with one-year storage.
• Frndly TV offers three plans: Basic $8.99/month (40+ channels, SD, 1 screen), Classic $10.99/month (HD, 2 screens, 3-month DVR retention), and Premium $12.99/month (HD, 4 screens, 9-month DVR retention).

Live Sports FAST: Wurl GM on Ad Challenges

In an interview, Keith Bedford, GM EMEA at Wurl, discusses the growing presence of live sports on free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST). He notes that leagues and rights holders are diversifying distribution, citing examples like Man City launching a channel and UEFA on Tubi, while the Bundesliga reserves a Friday night game for Samsung TV Plus. He highlights the shift from traditional rights sales to creating own channels and the need for better ad monetization in live events, including the use of metadata and live markers in the programmatic bidstream. He also identifies common pitfalls for sports channels on FAST: lack of consumer awareness, poor discoverability on TV interfaces, and insufficient cross-marketing. The interview underscores the evolving landscape where live sports is becoming a key differentiator in FAST, but challenges remain in ad tech and user experience.

• Wurl GM Keith Bedford says live sports make up less than 3% of FAST viewing, compared to nearly 20% on linear TV.
• Man City has launched a channel on FAST, offering matchday coverage without actual footage.
• UEFA has launched a channel on Tubi with live content, including highlights and Under-21s/Women's Champions League games.

Wurl Launches Content Intelligence Platform to Scale Advanced Targeting Across Streaming TV

Wurl has launched its Content Intelligence Platform, designed to scale advanced targeting across streaming TV. The platform is highlighted in a new press release and blog post, marking a significant product launch for the company.